Morgan De Sanctis

Morgan De Sanctis (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmorɡan dɛ ˈsantis]; born 26 March 1977) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for French Ligue 1 club Monaco.
Prior to joining Monaco in 2016, he played for several Italian clubs throughout his career: he began his career with Pescara, and later also played for Juventus, Udinese, Napoli, and Roma; he also had spells in Spain and Turkey with Sevilla and Galatasaray respectively.
At international level, he has represented the Italy national football team, and was included in squads for the 2000 Summer Olympics, UEFA Euro 2008, the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, the 2010 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012.

Early career

After a 3-year stint playing for Serie B team Pescara, De Sanctis became a reserve player for the Serie A giants Juventus, playing only three times in two seasons before joining Udinese in 1999 in co-ownership deal along with Marco Zamboni, for 2.5 billion Lire (€1,291,142.25) each. In May 2000, he deal became permanent, for 8 billion lire (€4,131,655), as part of the deal that Juventus signed Marco Zanchi.

Udinese

After three seasons also as a back-up for Luigi Turci, he finally managed to start in 2002–03 season. His contract was renewed on 10 November 2000, 18 October 2003 and 20 September 2005, which his annual gross salary increased from €569,000 (€310,000 net) in 2003 to €623,000 (€350,000 net) in 2005, plus other bonuses, including a loyalty bonus since 2005, for €350,878 a season (€200,000 net). He played all 6 group stage matches of 2005–06 UEFA Champions League, and reached round of 16 of 2005–06 UEFA Cup.

Sevilla

On 8 June 2007 he unilaterally terminated his contract with Udinese, by mis-using Webster ruling. He signed a 4-year contract with Sevilla FC, worth €1,381,578.94 a season (€1.05 million in net). Udinese submitted the case to FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber as Udinese and De Sanctis failed to agree the compensation. On 10 December 2009 the DRC awarded Udinese liable to receive €3,933,134 from De Sanctis, quoting Matuzalém's case as legal reference. The case then appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and on 1 March 2011 awarded Udinese a sum of €2,250,055.

Galatasaray loan

He was loaned out to Galatasaray for the 2008–2009 season. He played all the league and Europe matches since 31 August.

Napoli

On 24 July 2009, Napoli signed the goalkeeper from Sevilla FC on a four-year deal, for €1.5 million.

Roma

On 25 July 2013 Roma signed De Sanctis on a two-year deal from Napoli, for a transfer fee of €500,000. De Sanctis has aided to Roma's perfect start to the Serie A season, keeping 9 clean sheets in the first 10 games, conceding just once as they top the table on 30 points. On January 5, 2014, in a crucial match against Juventus, he conceded three goals for the first time of the season meaning that Roma were 8 points behind Juventus at the top of the table. During the 2013–14 season, he went 745 consecutive minutes with out conceding a goal in the Italian top division; he currently holds the joint seventh-highest unbeaten streak in Serie A, alongside Luca Marchegiani and Gianluigi Buffon.

Monaco

On 13 July 2016, De Sanctis was signed by Monaco on a one-year deal.

At youth level, De Sanctis represented the Italy under-21 side on 7 occasions between 1999 and 2000, and won the 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship with the team.

De Sanctis never became a regular in the Italian senior national team due to the consistency of Gianluigi Buffon, and therefore often served as a back-up keeper. De Sanctis made his senior international debut for Italy on 30 March 2005, under manager Marcello Lippi, in a 0–0 friendly draw against Iceland. Although he did not make Lippi's 23-man squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he was chosen as one of the four back-up players to be called up in the event of an injury to Buffon, Angelo Peruzzi or Marco Amelia, After the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he secured a place as the team's number two goalkeeper to travel with the Italian squad to UEFA Euro 2008, under Roberto Donadoni, as well as the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2010 FIFA World Cup, under Lippi. Although Buffon suffered an injury in the opening match of the latter tournament, De Sanctis did not feature in any matches, as Federico Marchetti was instead chosen to start; Italy were eliminated in the first round.

The team's subsequent coach Cesare Prandelli preferred to include younger understudies, such as Antonio Mirante and Salvatore Sirigu, to Buffon, instead of De Sanctis. However, after injury to Emiliano Viviano, De Sanctis returned to the squad as Buffon's back-up for UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying matches in September 2011, and also appeared in Italy's 3–0 friendly win against Northern Ireland in Pescara on 11 October, three years after his last cap for Italy. He eventually made the squad for the final tournament, but did not play, as Italy reached the final. His final match for Italy came on 16 October 2012, in a 3–1 win over Denmark in a 2014 World Cup qualifier. On 26 March 2013, the day of his 36th birthday, he announced that he would be retiring from international football after Italy's World Cup qualifier against Malta later that day. In total, he made 6 appearances for Italy.

A reliable and commanding goalkeeper, known for his leadership and vocal presence on the pitch, De Sanctis is known in particular for his shot-stopping ability, handling, and speed when rushing off his line, and is regarded as one of the best Italian goalkeepers of his generation.

Club

As of match played 16 September 2015

1Includes Supercoppa Italiana.

Club

Galatasaray

• Turkish Super Cup: 2008

Napoli

• Coppa Italia: 2011–12
• Supercoppa Italiana: Runner-up 2012
• Serie A: Runner-up 2012–13

Roma

• Serie A: Runner-up 2013–14, 2014–15

International

Italy

• UEFA European Championship: Runner-up 2012

Individual

• Pallone d'Argento: 2009–10

• ^ "M. De Sanctis". Soccerway. Retrieved 21 December 2015. 
• "A Florenzi il "Pallone d'Argento" Coppa Giaimè Fiumano" (in Italian). ussi.it. 8 May 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.